Students at Jewells Primary School were showing off some toothy grins last week and it was not because there was only one week of school left until holidays.
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They had just been told the school had earned $1000 for leading the way in saving oral waste from landfill.
The school pocketed the cash after securing first prize in the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures recycling competition.
It was a national drive that invited schools across Australia to collect as much oral care waste as possible and send it to TerraCycle, a recycling company that deals with hard-to-recycle waste such as toothbrushes, coffee capsules and cigarette butts.
Jewells Primary School were among over 400 schools to take part in the challenge, from February to November this year.
In total, the Lake Macquarie school collected an impressive 4261 units of oral care waste, which weighed over 38 kilograms.
The items included products such as toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers.
Teacher Samantha Burt was full of praise for the school’s students as she announced their win at the end of year assembly on Friday.
She said the students had shown consistent passion and drive to collect all kinds of oral care waste and show the importance of reusing, recycling and upcycling waste.
“Together we can change the world,” Ms Burt said.
“You have all helped inspire change in this world through upcycling and recycling.”